Preparing a Global Manager

1
Functions of Business Communication
1. To inform 2. To persuade 3. To Promote
goodwill
External Communication with Customers Suppliers Go
vernment agencies the public
Internal Communication with Superiors Coworkers Su
bordinates
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2
When Is Written Communication Really Complete?

• Reach
• Read
• Understood
• Appreciated
• Acted Upon

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3
Written Communication-The Most Troublesome

• Formal Communication
• Received cold (without communicators tone of
  voice or gesture to help)
• Rigid (Cannot be adjusted to the recipients
  reactions)
• It stays on record
• The subject is crucial
• Handling No! is not an easy task

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4
The Readers Priorities

• Written Communication-Highly valued asset for a
  top executive
• The reader has limited time
• S /he is deluged with paperwork
• S / he hates to read a long letter
• Is in a hurry to stop reading a letter as soon as
  the s / he has all the information
• Please do not waste the readers time!

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5
Mind Your Grammar for Style in Business Letters-1

• Subject Verb Object order (English is a word
  order language)
• Strong Verbs
• Active voice (Use Passive to minimize the source
  of action / unknown)
• Use Adjectives / Adverbs sparingly
• Use strong Nouns
• Correct tense
• Dangling Modifiers

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6
What is Readability Index? Low Fog Index

• Business English must be simple, clear, concise,
  sincere and courteous
• Not wordy and full of jargon
• Correct choice of words / Not pretentious
  language
• Not unnecessarily long sentences
• Subject verb object order must not be violated
  /Sentences must have coherence, not awkward
• Paragraph must begin with a topic sentence
• Not too many ideas in a single paragraph)
• Must have logical progression of ideas

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The Composition Process

• Good communicators realize that the composition
  process often occurs out of order as they jump
  back and forth from one stage to another.

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Rules for Writing Effective Business Letters /
Memos / Emails

• Choosing the Correct Format
• Choosing Correct Language / Use of words /
  Grammar
• Using Modern Terminology
• Using Research for Effective Business Writing
• Avoiding Discriminatory Expressions
• Organizing Writing for Goodwill / Building
  Relationships Understanding

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Parts of A Business Letter / Memo
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What does the Reader Do?

• S / He tries to hold the text together
• Finds reading easier when the text comes as a
  pyramid, beginning at the top and working
  downward

Main Idea
Related ideas
Concluding ideas
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11
Pitfalls of Business Writing

• Too Many Words
• Cliches
• Too Many Big Words
• Jargon
• Vague Expressions
• Condescending Statements
• Sexist Language
• Negative Expressions
• Inattention to Detail
• Inattention to the Reader
• Lack of Commitment
• Passive Construction

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12
Orientation towards the Receiver

• The recipients mind should be kept in mind while
  writing.
• Practise YOU attitudelook at a message from the
  receivers point of viewwhat benefits /
  advantages for goodwill and lasting relationship.

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Short and Simple Vocabulary
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Use specific words to bring vitality and
exactness.
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Use Active voice in preference to Passive voice.
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Use of Action Verbs conveys the force of your
personality and your sense of purpose.
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Be brief

• An example of a verbose sentence is--
• May I have your blessings to apply for a days
  leave?
• An example of a brief sentence is given below--
• May I have a days leave?

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Prefer short sentences to long, compound and
complex sentences.

• Those who do not attend the meeting and prefer
  to stay away, by offering feeble and lame
  excuses, shall be dealt with in a serious manner,
  vide IAC 37, which deals with office discipline
  and punishments liable thereof, in order to
  maintain the sanctity of office and to uphold the
  hoary traditions, on which the edifice of our
  organization, has been developed.

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Principle 8 Gender biased words.Do not use
masculine / feminine gender for both sexes. You
could avoid this by using plural or the word or
the symbol /

• In case a student fails in the English language
  test, he will not be eligible for placement
  assistance.
• Non gender biased words
• In case a student fails in the English language
  test, he/she will not be eligible for placement
  assistance. (Use also the plural form of the
  subject noun)

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Keep Sentences Short

• Write in sentences of various lengths, but keep
  the average sentence relatively short.
• If youre not persuaded that average sentence
  length is important, read this chart published in
  communication briefings

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Big Impact with Little Words

• Short words
• can often
• make a
• bigger impact.

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Recognizing Cliches

• along these lines
• as per our agreement
• at the present time
• due to the fact that
• enclosed please find
• for the purpose of
• in response to your memo of
• in view of the face
• per
• Pursuant to
• regarding the matter of
• we are returning some herewith

• as per your request
• at an early date
• despite the fact that
• enclosed herewith
• for the amount of
• in response to your letter of
• pending receipt of
• please be advised
• thank you for your cooperation
• we will file your letter for future reference
• with reference to your letter of
• subsequent to

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Written Communication The Power of Seven Cs

• Courtesywould you mind, I am really sorry
• Claritysubmit the invoice first /production
  line is kept clear
• ConcisenessIll definitely try to submit by
  Wednesday / Thank you for your hospitality in
  Hong Kong
• Concreteness15 gain
• Correctness--You waited for two days for my
  call?
• ConsiderationAs soon as you submit the required
  documents to us, we will promptly deliver the
  goods to you.
• Completeness Please refer to our letter dated 2
  June, about additional information of the shirt
  samples that you had sent for approval

Leena Sen
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Weak Words

• You can make your writing clearer by deleting
  words that dont add meaning. For example, pay
  close attention to the following words
• actually kind of
• basically particular
• certain practically
• definitely really
• different various
• generally very
• given virtually
• individual
• These words are not bad, but people tend to use
  them unnecessarily. Example Actually, I
  generally kind of enjoy typing practically and
  specific type of communication. These words
  weaken the sentence because they add nothing to
  it but length.

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Use Gender Neutral Words
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Write Economically by Reducing Redundancy-3
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Documents that are Considerate in tone are well
received

• As soon as you submit the required documents to
  us, we will promptly deliver the goods to you.
• So that you will be able to shop freely, we have
  extended the shopping time by two hours.

• We will not deliver the goods until you have
  submitted all the documents to us.
• We are delighted to inform that we have extended
  shopping time by 2 hours

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Too Many Words

• Limit your sentences to fewer than 17 words. In
  business communication time is precious! Do not
  waste the readers time
• Edit ruthlessly

NO In this letter we have tried to answer all
the questions that you had asked, and we
hope that in case you have any
additional questions whatsoever, you
will not hesitate to contact us. YES If you
have additional questions, please call us.
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Cliches

• Avoid fad / dead phrases / words and trite
  phrases like input, parameters, utilize,
  hopefully, and enclosed please find

NO Enclosed please find herewith the
information as per your request.
Hopefully, you will be able to utilize our
product to benefit your company within
the parameters of your computers
invoice processing. Well appreciate your
input. YES We have enclosed the information
you requested. Our product will
speed up your computers invoice
processing.
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• Jargon
• Avoid using overly technical terms like
  facilitator JIT TQM/interface etc

NO After analyzing the organizational climate,
we found that it lacks a TQM approach to
work and quality maintenance YES After
analyzing the organizational climate,
we found that people need to believe in a
structured and quality approach to work.
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• Vague Expressions
• If the profits were affected did they increase
  or decrease ?
• Be concise and specific

NO The companys negative cash flow position
forced it to resize its operations to the level
of profitable market opportunities. YES The
company lost money and had to lay off workers.
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• 5 Condescending Statements
• Write with warmth, as one human to another
• Of course can be interpreted as any idiot
  knows.

NO We are certain you are concerned with saving
money. Of course, you will mail the
enclosed card. We thank you in advance. YES If
saving money is important to you, please mail
the enclosed card today.
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• 7 Negative Expressions
• Stress the positive
• Instead of telling what you cant do or dont
  have, provide good news.

NO Were sorry to tell you that we dont supply
XYZ software any more. YES Since we no longer
supply XYZ software, we are sending you a list
of distributors who could help you.
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Lack of Commitment

• Take a stand
• Omit qualifiers sort of, rather, quite,
  somewhat

NOT We are quite pleased about our rather
exciting work processor. BUT We are pleased
about out exciting line of word processors.
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Five steps you can take to improve your writing
immediately-1
1 Come straight to the point Avoid phrases
like these as they add nothing to your
message I am writing to inform you Please be
informed Please be advised Please note that I
wish to bring to your attention that
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Use modern terminology
Use words you would use if you were
speaking, and avoid old-fashioned, long-winded,
boring standard clichés that have been around
for decades. Instead of Say We have
received your letter Thank you for your letter
dated of 12 November. 12 November. Please
find enclosed I enclose Enclosed
is/are Please find attached I attach
Attached is/are Please be reminded Please
remember the above-mentioned goods these
goods the above-mentioned workshop this
workshop

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Use Active Voice not Passive Voice-4
Use active not passive voice Active voice
makes your writing more interesting, more
personal, more proactive and much more
natural. Instead of Say The new system
was Our staff developed the developed by our
staff. new system. The cheque was presented to
the The Prince of Wales charity by the Prince
of Wales. presented the cheque to the charity.

Leena Sen
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Remember the KISS Principle-3
KISS means Keep It Short and Simple that
means simple words and short sentences, for
example Instead of Say endeavour try
despatch send terminate end I should be
obliged if you would Please In view of the fact
that As, Since In the event that If
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Mistakes Your Computer Wont Catch-1

• Revert back. Revert means to go back or to
  return. Eliminate back
• I could care less. Thats wrong, because it means
  you care a lot. It should be I couldnt care
  less.
• New innovation. An innovation is something new,
  so drop the adjective.

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Mistakes Your Computer Wont Catch-2

• The principal reason. The adjective should be
  principal, meaning the most important.
• 8 P.M. tonight. Because p.m. means after noon
  and a.m. means before noon, we dont need to
  use qualifiers such as tonight or in the
  morning when were using those Latin
  abbreviations.
• This will effect my job status. The verb should
  be affect, which means to influence or to
  produce an effect upon. The verb effect means
  to bring about.

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41
Write Economically by Reducing Redundancy-1

• Consensus of opinion /general consensusA
  consensus by definition is a general solidarity
  of opinion.Contained hereinsubmitted a
  resignation (say Resigned)basic fundamentals
  close proximity provide with information (say
  inform)cooperate togethercompletely full

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Write Economically by Reducing Redundancy-2

• end result/final outcometake under consideration
  (consider)many in numberfuture
  prospectssufficient enoughother alternativenew
  innovationpast experiencepostpone until later

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The Push Skill of Feedback for positive
image-Feedback is not the same as criticism

• Meant to improve performance in a positive way
• Calm
• Tough on the issues
• Look for solutions
• Looks for underlying causes
• Two way
• Person giving the feedback owns the opinion, says
  I think

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Influencing / Persuasive skills for positive
impression-The Pull skills for Creating Rapport
(NLP)

• Positive Body Language Communication
• Managing your body language
• Avoid mismatches
• Match, dont copy
• Genuine Listening
• Asking Questions

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Phrases to Avoid-2

• For your perusal, review, and consideration
• We deem it advisable
• It has come to my attention
• The undersigned
• Pursuant to your request
• Transparent to the user
• Under separate cover

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The 2 Golden Rules

• For all pleasant messages practise BIF formula
• For all unpleasant messages practise BILL formula

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E-mail Etiquette (Netiquette)
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Minding Your E Mail / Memo Manners
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Ten Techniques for Effective Communication

• Keep your writing clear, concise, and simple.
• Choose your words carefully.
• Be natural.
• Avoid fad words, jargon, and cliches.
• Use active verbs, avoid passive construction.
• Take a stand, make a commitment, avoid
  qualifiers.
• Use familiar wordsplain English.
• Be specific avoid vagueness.
• Eliminate redundant expressions.
• Keep your audience in mind.

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Summary

• Language, Values, Attitudes, and other cultural
  traits change very slowly. Therefore,
  communicating inter-culturally calls for
  recognition of the cultural elements that cause
  people to view things differently and thus create
  barriers to communication.

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Free Your Mind From Cliches!
Leena Sen
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THANK YOU
Leena Sen